Fraternity's president is 'pleased'

by COURTNEY L. BAILES
reporter

Jonathan Sutton, president of Delta Lambda Phi Fraternity, says he is, "very pleased" with the Commission on Multiculturalism's (COM) response to recommendations submitted to it Feb. 16 by Sutton and Okey J. Napier Jr., chairman of the commission's Subcommittee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Affairs (LGBT).

"I feel the issues have been adequately discussed and that workable solutions are a possibility," said Sutton, a graduate student from Lexington, Ky. "I am very happy they were able to come up with as many solutions as they did."

Dr. Donnalee Cockrille, dean of Student Affairs, said her office and 10 other offices are working on implementing many of the recommendations.

"We will look to see how to affect the greatest change," Cockrille said.

The COM discussed the recommendations and responded to them in a memo released March 3 from Dr. Betty J. Cleckley, vice president for Multicultural Affairs and International Programs.

The COM supports a recommendation to distribute educational materials and have public forums dealing with homophobia, hate crimes, multiculturalism and diversity, according to the memo.

The first forum dealing with the recommendations took place Monday night, Cockrille said.

"We are supporting them and hoping to implement all of the recommendations," Steve Hensley, associate dean of Student Affairs, said.

Student Affairs is working with University Introduction 101 professors to teach sensitivity training to incoming freshmen, Hensley said. However, they cannot require the professors to teach sensitivity training.

Napier recommended expanding the current Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Outreach Office and starting a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgen-dered Leadership Institute.

According to the memo, this recommendation was accepted in 1997 and sent to J. Wade Gilley, former president of Marshall University, in 1998. The current freeze on spending has affected the completion of this request.

Sutton recommended sensitivity training for members of the Student Government Association (SGA), Student Senate and all university tutors.

The COM referred these recommendations to SGA, according to the memo.

Sutton recommended that musical concerts and plays dealing with multicultural themes, especially with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered themes be performed on campus.

Don Van Horn, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said in a memo released Monday that the process of selecting performances is taken very seriously.

"The College of Fine Arts will continue to follow, with great care and dedication, its Social Justice Plans, which are clear indicators of a faculty committed to issues of diversity and education," according to a separate memo from the College of Fine Arts.

Sensitivity training should be required for the Marshall University Police Department, Sutton recommended.

MUPD received sensitivity training but James Terry, director of the Office of Public Safety, will investigate and decide whether a refresher course is needed, according to the memo.

Sutton recommended having a LGBT library in the Morrow Library.

The COM recommended adding to the current LGBT collection in the John Deaver Drinko Library, according to the memo.

The MUPD should offer self defense classes to all Multicultural students, Sutton recommended.

The Office of Public Safety, at this time, offers Rape Aggression Defense, which is only open to women, according to the memo. Physical Education 120 is offered to all students throughout the year.

The recommendations will be discussed further Wednesday at the COM meeting, said Feon Smith, administrative assistant for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and International Programs. The meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. in the John Spotts Room of the Memorial Students Center.